During this week, I had a moment when I was drenched in gratitude for no other reason that being a witch. It was one of those rare instances when consciousness altered, and my heart was brimming with thankfulness for the path I’ve chosen to take in this life. It didn’t happen in ritual or at a sacred site but in the kitchen. I think I was slicing green beans at the time.

And yet, there are days, sometimes weeks, when I haven’t felt completely connected to my spiritual path. I don’t feel witchy enough.

I spend a huge amount of my time either writing or pondering on spiritual topics, and connecting with other spiritual seekers. My whole life is entwined with spirituality – even when I have ‘free time’ I’m reading about witchcraft, considering the sacredness of business, trying to understand the dynamics of the Infinite Source or telling my husband that we need to visit gargoyles/standing stones/sacred wells because they’re calling me.

But I’m just like most people who walk a similar path to me. I succumb to the feeling of not being ‘witchy enough’.

To reach the lofty heights of my expectations on what it means to be enough witchy, I’d be floating around in beautiful robes, reading out of large tomes in Latin (or another dead language because it sounds so much cooler than in my south London accent), be adorned with semi-precious stone charms, and have an air of otherworldliness about me.

Reality doesn’t look like that.

For example, last week looked like this: far too much computer time, insomnia, hours in the kitchen cooking, evenings spent cutting up bits of plastic for a local eco-organisation to turn into bricks, WiFi problems, a million other things, and trying to juggle the work-life balance with my husband’s birthday thrown in. Then there’s starting a new publishing company with which I need help. *phew*

My witchy side has been somewhat fulfilled by coven ritual and a walk around our local labyrinth on the equinox.

But still, I managed to conjure, quite by accident, that deep sense of gratitude. I am witchy enough even though I’m more blue-jeans than floaty robes.

It’s easy for us who follow our own kind of spirituality, without guidebooks or organisation, to feel as if we have to be more than we are to be authentically witchy or pagan or whatever flavour calls you.

This Isn’t Going To Help

Life happens, busy happens, and putting an unrealistic expectation on yourself to meet your witchy criteria isn’t going to make you feel better.

It’s going to make you feel lacking and frustrated.

A connection to your spiritual path isn’t about crushed-velvet robes, musky incense and twirling around like Stevie Nicks.

It isn’t about creating elaborate rituals with exotic ingredients and timing them to the split second for super-dooper planetary alignment.

Having all the latest trinkets and a heap load of consumer debt because you ‘needed’ another shiny tool isn’t going to make you feel any witchier.

The Secret To Being Witchy Enough All The Time

The secret is simple.

It’s just to listen to your heart and know in your soul that you’re enough.

If you resonate with the essence of a witch then that’s enough.

You are witchy enough 24/7.

You don’t have to *do* something to be witchy enough. You allow yourself to be.

Become Extra Witchy

If you want to be extra witchy to make sure, without any doubt, that you’re enough then you can do that.

These tips will add extra oompf and depth to your spiritual path and make you feel witchy (or anything) enough.

Ready?

Be kind

Be helpful

Smile

Tell me, I’d love to know, do you often feel less witchy and long to be witchy enough?

Lyn Thurman is a witch and priestess on the south coast of England. She's the author of The Inner Goddess Revolution and Goddess Rising, and the creator of the Sea Whispers oracle. When she's not writing, she is breathing magic into business through Biz-Witchery (or obsessing over vegan cakes). You can read more about the author here.

Sometimes I have experienced the feeling, but it was more so as a result of so few others being able to relate or connect with me and my path, but it is just that…mine. I have tried to find a sort of common thread/ground with others, and sometimes I do, so when that fades, I think then that it is a matter of approach as a result of one’s experiences and perspective (also as a result of experiences).

There are people that believe you have to be Pagan to be a witch, then there are people that do not believe that. However, the anything goes, you do not have to be Pagan types bother me. Because i know that their code of conduct is pretty much, do what thou wilt, and forget the restrictions. But, then again, I cannot tell them how to live or what to do, only that for myself, they are a great teaching tool so that others see what they do and say, and either embrace them, or reject them for trying to muddy the waters.

I. H. Hagar

I live in the U.S.A. and I have to live through the nightmare of our current government. Everyday I wake up to some new horror Trump has unleashed on us. To me the one I feel the most is the children in cages. The frustration and anger I feel sometimes does not permit me to enjoy anything. My brain is a fog, my heart is broken and so is my spirit. I am a solitary because the group I tried to join pretty much told me I wasn’t welcome. You see I am of Mexican ancestry and I look very Native American. The group I tried to join is an open circle affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist church and they are all of white European ancestry. Also they are mostly in their late thirties or early forties. After several snubs and forgetting to tell me the time or place had been changed for a certain ritual I got the message. For me it’s not about feeling “witchy”. It’s about not being accepted. I have studied and practiced Paganism/Witchcraft for about forty years and I was officially initiated in1983. I am seventy years old so I would say I’m serious about my path. I feel a bit lonely especially on the Holy Days of Beltain and Samhain but better to be alone then in company that does not want you there. When I start to feel very depressed I read blogs or listen to music. I also read different books on different subjects, some that pertain to witchcraft and some that are just fun or historical. I do meditation and work with crystals and incenses. I do some arts and crafts and just try to keep on keeping on. I have tried to reach out to this group with some e-mail but I never get any response. To me it’s just sad that even in a Pagan group and a Unitarian group at that they should be so prejudiced.

Maureen Stewart-Hodges

I really enjoyed this post/Article! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and tips. Gives me some things to think about. Especially when I feel like I’m not living that spiritual life that seems to elude me at times. : )

Laura

So sorry to hear about your awful experience with a CUUPs group. The CUUPs group I am trying to get involved in is run in a remarkably disordered fashion (to be fair, the individuals running the group have a lot going on in life) and focuses on green spirituality and secular paganism. Consequently, at this point, the most spiritual experiences I have had have been as a solitary, so maybe that is the best path for many of us, until or if we can find a group we really connect with. And yes, Trump unleashes a new horror everyday. I know demographic changes are taking place that will eventually shift our country back to democracy, but how long will this take…

Laura

I feel most witchy when I am sitting at the beach – especially when there is a hazard alert and the waves are crashing ashore, as I do a little sea witchery. Or in my own backyard on a windy day, as the wind swirls around and I ground to the earth, surrounded by trees, plants and birds. What I really need to figure out is how to feel witchy while in the house, which – because of cold weather or vast amounts of mosquitos – is probably the majority of the time! Thank you for this article – it is important to find ways to feel witchy, even in the midst of life’s mundane tasks. Any particular thoughts about witchery in the house during those gloomy winter months?

I always feel connected at the beach… doesn’t matter the weather although I love the waves crashing a little more than any other time too.

In the winter when it’s cold and gloomy (I’m in England so it’s often cold and gloomy in the summer too), I light candles. Many candles. I can’t help but feel more witchy when there are candles burning. BB xx

I am so sorry that you’ve had negative experiences with this group. It always saddens me to hear that people look at skin colour rather than see beyond to the essence of a person. It’s their loss on many levels.

I understand the nightmare of Trump even though I’m watching him unfold from over the Pond. I try not to read the news but it filters through anyway.